Thursday, May 17, 2018

Good Time Grill Offers Some of the Cheapest Eats in Northampton

A chicken kebab lunch special with rice, vegetables and "white sauce."

Good Time Grill(5419 Chippewa Street, 314-688-6666) isn't a place you want to linger. The lighting is very bright, and the room is dominated by a large kitchen that's oddly partitioned off from the rest. You can hear the food being prepared — and if you were a giant, you could peak over the room divider and see it — but it's a far cry from an open kitchen.

But this isn't that kind of place anyway. You wouldn't come to Good Time Grill for farm-to-table or fancy. Instead, this new take-out spot in the Northampton neighborhood is a destination for large portions and very inexpensive prices.

How inexpensive? Good Time is offering a ribeye steak, complete with a baked potato, Texas toast and a side salad, for $9.99. Or what about a combo plate? Good Time's features two proteins, fries or rice and a soda. You can choose from a bewildering array of options — jack salmon, regular shrimp, jumbo shrimp, chicken gizzards, chicken wings, chicken tenders, tilapia or catfish nuggets. Those, too, are just $9.99, no matter what pairing you pick.

And then there's the lunch special, which may be one of the best deals in town. Twelve different options, priced at $5.99, offer hearty sandwiches or platters served with either fries or rice, plus a can of soda. Get ten pieces of shrimp, a grilled chicken sandwich, catfish nuggets, even a chicken kebab over rice (shown above). None of it's fancy, but the portions are big and the food cooked to order — and it should still be ready in about fifteen minutes.

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SARAH FENSKE

A lunch special features ten pieces of shrimp plus seasoned fries, served with a can of soda for $5.99.

The eatery is the brainchild of Majid Abid. He referred our questions to a cashier, Ashley Knight, who tells us that Abid opened the smoke shop next door seven years ago. When the adjacent barber shop closed its doors to move to a different location, Abid jumped at the chance to open a new business.

"He got the idea and ran with it," Knight says.

Now the small strip mall on Chippewa just west of Macklind has two similarly named businesses: Good Time Grill and Good Times Smoke Shop. Majid frequently goes back and forth between his two concerns, Knight says, supervising employees at each.

It's a good thing he has help; the restaurant has found no shortage of customers since quietly opening its doors May 7. "We've done very good business since the day we opened," Knight says. "It's been great."

So great, in fact, that Good Time Grill has had to decline customer requests to start delivery. "People keep asking us if we can deliver," she says. "But we're not sure because it's a small place. We'd have to put in more fryers. It's not completely in the works yet." For now, you can call ahead with your order, or simply stop by and plan to chill out while they cook it. There are three small tables adjacent to the kitchen, and while you won't be able to see the cook at work, if you close your eyes, you can hear it sizzle — and smell it cooking.

Good Time Grill is open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at sarah.fenske@riverfronttimes.com

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